Agenda Item Name:
Title
Approval of Annual Access Certification Statement for the Florida Office of State Courts Administrator (OSCA) and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and Related Board Resolution
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Presenter:
Stuart Wegener, (352) 548-3708
Description:
Request Approval of the Certification Statement with the Office of State Courts Administrator and for the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Authorize the Chair to Sign the Annual Certification Statement. Further, Approve a Resolution Delegating Authority to the County Manager to Execute and Provide Certification Statements and Any Addendums Required for Access to the Judicial Inquiry System
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Prior Board Motions:
5/11/2021: the Board Approved the Current Inter-Agency Agreement with OSCA as well as the Required Access Certification Statement
Fiscal Consideration:
Fiscal Consideration
None
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Strategic Guide:
Strategic Guide
All Other Mandatory and Discretionary Services
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Background:
In May 2021, the Board approved a New Inter-Agency Agreement which provides direct access to criminal history and other criminal-justice related information through the Judicial Inquiry System (JIS), administered by OSCA. It ensures confidentiality of all information contained within the System. This agreement is similar to the agreement which the County has with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to run criminal histories. The JIS is a much faster and more efficient manner of retrieving criminal histories, saving Court Services staff time and the County money. Under the User Agreement, OSCA allows Court Services through the County to utilize JIS, which is now in practice accessed by the staff of nearly every Department program.
The revised User Agreement expanded beyond the standard approach, which involves access through JIS made available to all users of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle’s DAVID data. JIS updated its web service connection to the DHSMV, and therefore had to adjust its own MOU with that agency. To meet the requirements of this MOU between those two parties, each agency including Alachua County must approve the Certification Statement annually going forward.
As a result, the newly required Certification Statement requires the Board Chair to sign following the BoCC’s approval as requested herein.
In addition, it seems appropriate to ensure that the approval of such documents in the future be made as efficiently as possible. Conversations with OSCA/JIS staff have underscored their own recognition of the value of approval authority being made as efficiently as possible. To that end, a board resolution is included which, if approved is granted by the BoCC, authority for approval of future certification statements would be conferred upon the County Manager as the BoCC’s executive authority.